Stocking-bridge



P. J. FICKJNGER. srocma amuse. APPUCATION HLED JUNE II. I918.

Patented Oct. 28,1919.

4 SHEETS-SHEET l- Patented Oct. 28,1919.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

&

A TTOEWEY MQOOQOMZ Patented Oct. 28, 1919.

4 SHEETS-SHEEI' 3 IIIVENTOR Eiflflfl/Ylfi y ATTORNEY P. J. FICKINGER.

STOCKING BRIDGE. APPLICATION FILED was n. ma.

P. J. HCKINGER.

sto'cmus BRIDGE.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE H. I918.

Patented 0613. 28, 1919.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 4- A TTORNEY PBESLY J FICKINGER, OF CONNEAUT', OHIO.

STOCKING-BRIDGE.

Specification of Letters Patent;

Patented Oct. 28, 1919.

Application filed June 11, 1918. Serial No. 239,470.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, PnnsLY J. Ficnmonn, a citizen of the United States,a resident of comment, county of Ashtabula, and State of Ohio, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Stocking-Bridges, ofwhich the following is a specification.

My invention relates to stocking cranes for handling bulk material, thechief features of novelty residing in the means for driving the cranealong its tramway and means for holdin the crane against the movementalong t e tramway.

Herctofore considerable difficulty has been experienced in effectivelyholding stocking cranes from bein' blown along their tramways by highwinds. At night and other times when these cranes are unattended,windstorms have often blown them along the tramway and have at timescaused them to travel to the'end of the tramway and topple over andcause considerable damage. Various means have been tried to securelyhold these stocking cranesin place, one of which was to rovide brakes onthe axles of the track w eels but in practice it was found that eventhough the wheels were locked if a high wind came 11 i it simply skiddedthe whole structure a ong the tramway. These cranes are of gigantlcsizes, the one illustrated having a bri ge of over five hundred andfifty feet in length and reaching a height of one hundred and eight feetfrom the track rails to the to of the upperchord of the bridge. It wiltherefore, be appreciated that the structural framing of the bridgepresents an appreciable area for wind pressure to act upon.

The objects and advantages of the invention will be clear from thefoilowing description and the accompanying drawings in which,- v

Figure 1 is a conventional side elevation of a stocking crane lookingalong the tramy;

Fig. 2 is a diagrammatic pian of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view on the hue -3 of Fig. 1 showing one of thesupporting legs for the brid of the crane;

Fig. 4 is a sectmn on the line 4-4 of Fig. 1 showing the othersupporting leg for the; bridge of the crane;

Fig. 5 is an enlarged detail of the driving mechanism for the cranebeing a view substantially on line 55 of Fig. 1;

on the staggered of Fig. 5.

In the drawings the bridge 1 of the crane supports the usual traveler orcrane trolley 2 from which the clam shell bucket 3 or other loadingdevice is operable. The bridge is supported at one end by a pair of legs4 and at the other end b a tower 5 consisting of suite-bl braced egs 6and 7. The driving and he din mechanism for the crane is secured to tiebox girders 8-88 forming the lower supports for the legs 4 and the tower5, and is conveniently arranged in multiple as shown in Figs. 1, 3 and4, there being two driving units A and B for the leg 4 as shown in Fig.3 and also two driving units C and D for each of the legs 6 and 7 of thetower 5 as shown in Fig. 4. As these units are all practically identicalin construction it is deemed suliicient herein to only describe one indetail.

The several box girders 8 which support the legs-l and the tower 5, areprovided with suitable trucks 9 having track wheels 10 for movablysupporting the crane on the track rails 11 of the crane runway which aresuitably secured to longitudinally extending footings 12 of the runway.Firmly secured to each of the footings 12 is a rack 14 which is adaptedto coiiperate with the drivin mechanism carried by the crane. This raciis preferably, although not necessarily, constructed of a pair oflongitudinally extending parallel bars 15 and 16 (Figs. 5 and 6) havingtransverse rods 17 passing therethrou h and secured as shown in Figs. 5and 6. T llS construction is simple and inexpensive to manufacture andyet can readily be made very strong to withstand the hard usage to whichsuch a rack is subjected. The

cross rods 17 are of rolled stock and present a. smooth working face tothe teeth of the coii rating gear of the driving mechanism an in thisrespect are more satisfactory The driving units which cooperate with therack above describwl each include a bull pinion 18 which is carried by ashaft 19 supported in suitable bearings 2t -2O carried by brackets'2l-2l which are secured to plates of the box girder The hull pinion 18is driven by a shrouded gear 22 integrally formed with a ear 23 bothbeing carried by the shaft ll which is journaled in suitable bearings2525 supported in the upper part of the bracket 21. A shaft 26 alsojournaled in suitable bearings carried by the bracket 21 has securedthereto a driving gear 27 which meshes with the gear 23. A worm wheel 28also secured to the shaft 26 is driven by a worm 29 carried by a shaft30 journaled in suitable bearings within the worm housing 31. A brakedrum 32 is secure-d to the shaft 30 and associated therewith is a. bandbrake comprising a strap 33 having one and secured to a fixed pin 34 andits opposite end to a pin 35 of a. brake lever 36. The brake lever ispivoted at 37 to a supporting bracket 38 which is secured to theunderside of the box girder 8. The lever 36 has an extended arm 39adapted to support the adjustable weight 40. A solenoid 41 is secured inany suitable manner to the box girder 8 and the 'core thereof isconnected by a link 42 with the arm 39 of the brake lover. The solenoid41 of each unit is energized at all times that the driving motors forthe crane are running and therefore its core is attracted upwardly andacts to hold the brake lever and band in such position that the brakedrum 32 can freely rotate. If for any 're'ason the circuit of the motorsI is broken the solenoid core of each unit will be deencrgizcd and thecounterweight 40 will automatically drop and thereby exert a brakingpressure on'thc drum 32 which will act to prevent any movement of thegearing above described and therefore hold the entire crane in a. fixedosition due to the engagement of the tcct of the gear 18 with the rods17 of the rack.

The displacement ratio between the worm 29 and the gear 18 is so-enormous that it will readily be seen that a comparatively small amountof pressure on the brake drum is required to overcome the tendency ofthe crane to more along the runway.

The shaft 30 is connected by means of any approved form of self aliningcoupling 43 with the shaft 1'4 of the driving motor 45, which is carriedby a suitable sub-frame 46 secured to the' box girder 8.

In operation. when it is desired to move the crane along the runwaysuitable switches are manipulated to supply current to the severalmotors 45 carried by the box girders 8 which support the bridge of thecrane. As the solenoids 4-1 are connected in circuit with the motorsthey are thus energized and release the brakes 32. The motors operatingthrough the train of gearing above described cause the bull pinion 18 totraverse the rack 14 and thereby propel the crane along the runway.

All of the motors 45 of the separate driving units are interconnectedelectrically but any one of them is capable of delivering enough powerto drive the crane. It is advantageous to have the driving mechanismarranged in separate units so that if any breakage occurs or any of theparts fail to operate properly the remaining units will be in reserve tonot either as a propelling or a holding means.

When the motors are shut oil it will read ily be seen the solenoids ofall the ditlercm driving units will be (la-Energized as above describedand the counterweights l0 w ll ex ert a braking action on the drums 3'3,the

ressure acting through the reduction gearmg described efi'ectively andpositiwly locking the crane against movement along the runway.

Instead of using an automatically operating brake I may use a simplehand brake with suitable locking devices to hold it in differentoperative positions. I

By the utilization of the driving mechanism herein disclosed, I am ableto efiectivel lock the crane against the highest win pressure developedin this locality, and am also able to drive the crane against a headwind. As ordinarily constructed the weight of the crane, enormous as itis in a structure of this size, is not sufiicient to provide adequatetraction between the track wheels to move the cranoagainst a strong headwind, nor to prevent it from skidding along th tramway before a highwind even through the Wheels be locked.

Although I have described with great particularity certain structuraldetails of the embodiment of the invention herein shown, it'is not to beconstrued that I am limited to such a construction, as various changesmay be madeby those skilled in the art without departing from the spiritand scope of the invention as defined in the subjoined claims.

1. A stocking crane comprising an overhead bridgc having a trolleymovably mounted thereon, legs for supporting said bridge ad jaccnt tothe ends thereof, wheeled trucks on the lower ends of said legs, trackrails forming a runway for said trucks, racks alongside said trackrails, driving means on the said stocking crane oooperatwith the drivingmechanism when the driving mechanism is not operating to actuate theera-us.

2. A stocking crane comprising an overhead bridge having a. s trolleymovaibiy mounted thereon, legs for supporting said bridge adjacent tothe ends thereaf, wheeled trucks UL .iie lower ends of said legs, trackmiis forming a runway for said trucks, in fixed rack secured to therunway, a plurality (if separaits driving units carried by said Craneand arranged to ooact with said rack to pnsitively propel the cranealong the runway against the Wind pressure on said bridgr, and a, brakeawoci-ated with said driving units arranged to prevent mnvcnmnt 0f thedriving units when tiie driving mm tors of said units are stopped.

23. A stocking crane wmp'rising in 15shezul bridge having a troiieyinnvnbiy mounted thereon, legs for snpportin said brid e adjacent to theends thereof, w ism-led firns s on the lower ends of said iegs, trackmils forming a runway fer said trunks, up ernting means for propiiingsaid crane. along said runway, said IlfiBRllSiliCiiHiillg: racks'i'm'n'iing iixud n'mmbers 0n the runwsv whereby said. bridge ispositively actuated in traversing the runwi and is held uinst skiddingon the runway, anri. driving lllLiLIh npei-Mivr-iy connected to the.wheels of sari? trucks and arranged to engage with Filiii racks topnsitiveiy propel a. bridge along the runway, said FRESLY J. FICKIXGER.

riving means inciuding a worm and having braking means enacting

